Oklahoma City’s offseason moves left a clear hole on the perimeter, and the Thunder may not need to look far to find a fix.
Isaiah Joe had become part of the team’s shooting identity over the last four seasons, knocking down at least 40% of his threes every year with Oklahoma City. He peaked at 42.3% last season, but his postseason minutes kept shrinking and his role kept getting smaller.
That eventually pushed the Thunder to trade him to the Detroit Pistons for a couple of second-round picks. Aaron Wiggins also moved on to Atlanta, leaving Oklahoma City lighter on offensive-minded role players.
The obvious answer has been Jared McCain, whose playoff emergence put him squarely in the conversation as a replacement. McCain will be entering his third NBA season, and the Thunder also used a first-round pick on Bennett Stirtz, another player some believe can help absorb the lost 3-point volume.
But there’s another name in the mix, and it may be the most interesting one. Cason Wallace has built his reputation on defense, yet he could be on the verge of becoming a much bigger part of the Thunder’s offense next season.
The numbers have gone the wrong way during Wallace’s first three seasons, with his 3-point percentage slipping from 41.9% as a rookie to 35.1% last season. Even so, his 2026 postseason run offered a different picture. Wallace hit 48.4% of his threes on more than four attempts per game in the playoffs, a strong sign that he can supply real offense when the pressure rises.
That matters because Wallace is expected to move into the starting lineup permanently next season, which should give him more chances to grow as a shooter. His off-the-dribble game still hasn’t come along the way Oklahoma City hoped, but the 3-point shot could be the skill that turns him into one of the league’s elite two-way players.
He probably won’t suddenly start shooting like Joe did off movement or from several feet beyond the arc. But the Thunder don’t need that exact replica. They just need Wallace to find enough consistency from deep to help cover the shooting they lost.
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Thunder Are Sending A Clear Message In The Payroll Debate
The Thunder spent much of the offseason looking like a team that might need to trim around the edges, but the roster theyve assembled tells a different story. Oklahoma City has kept a familiar depth chart in place and already filled all 15 roster spots, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lined up at point guard and Lu Dort expected to start at shooting guard as the core of a group that looks a lot like last seasons version.
Recent trades and re-signings helped shape that continuity, and the bigger takeaway is the message it sends about where the Thunder think they stand. Rather than treating the payroll as a problem to solve at all costs, they appear comfortable with their current position relative to the leagues cap thresholds, even if that means staying closer to the expensive side than many expected when the offseason began. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Rookie Shares Painful Reaction To Losing Two Title Run Favorites
The Thunders latest round of cost-cutting came with a familiar kind of sting for a team that has built so much of its identity on continuity and development. Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins were both part of Oklahoma Citys rise, the sort of under-the-radar contributors who helped deepen the rotation and stabilize the locker room while the front office kept collecting assets and preserving flexibility.
For rookie Thomas Sorber, the departures landed especially hard. Sorber has spent the year away from the floor after a torn ACL and a follow-up procedure also kept him out of Summer League, so he has watched this stretch from the sideline while the roster around him keeps changing. Even as the Thunder added four future second-round picks in the deal, the emotional cost was obvious in the way Sorber reacted to losing two players who had become part of the teams recent title run favorites. [Read more 🡒]